The child care & early education glossary defines terms used to describe aspects of child care and early education practice and policy; the research glossary defines terms used in conducting social science and policy research, for example those describing methods, measurements, statistical procedures, and other aspects of research.
Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Programs
A Head Start program that serves families who are engaged in agricultural work and who have changed their residence from one geographical location to another in the preceding two-year period.
Military Child Care
Regulated child care supported by the Department of Defense (DoD) to children of military personnel.
Mixed Delivery System/Diverse Delivery System
Refers to an integrated system of early childhood education services that are offered through a variety of programs and providers (e.g., Head Start, Licensed Family Child Care, public schools, and CBOs) and are supported with a combination of public and private funding.
Mixed/Multi-Age Grouping
Grouping children or students so that the chronological age span within a group is greater than one year. Multiple age grouping is most prevalent in Family or Home-based child care settings.
Modification
Refers to a strategy that changes or modifies what a child with Special Needs is expected to learn. For example, a child with a cognitive impairment may only be expected to learn and demonstrate comprehension of a portion of the material taught to a Typically Developing Child. Only children with IEPs are entitled to modifications. Compare with: Accommodation.
Monitoring
The process used to enforce child care providers' compliance with licensing rules and regulations. States use "differential monitoring" as a regulatory method for determining the frequency or depth of monitoring based on an assessment of the child care facility's compliance history and other quality indicators.
Native Language
The language that a person learns at home as a child, typically from a parent. Native language is sometimes referred to as one's "mother tongue" or Home Language.
Nontraditional Hour Child Care
Child care provided during nontraditional work hours such as over weekends or before 6am or after 7pm, Monday-Friday.
Nursery Schools
Child care programs designed for children ages 3-5 that typically operate for fewer hours/day and days/week than other child care option and tend to have less regulatory oversight. See related: Preschool, Pre-kindergarten.
Observational Tools
Refers to instruments that are used to observe aspects of the quality of a learning setting or environment. Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) commonly use the Environment Rating Scales (i.e., ECERS,ITERS,FCCERS, SACCERS) and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) to measure and improve the quality of the learning environment and teacher effectiveness, respectively.